Current account World Cup 2025: who won?

From 12 teams down to one, which bank did you vote as the best of 2025?

Over the last month in our Facebook and YouTube communities, we’ve been holding a knock out competition to find out your favourite current account. The results are finally in, and it’s not what I expected!

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Round one: group stage

When choosing which current accounts to include I made a call to whittle it down to just 12 for the first rounds, grouped into four groups of three.

This meant ignoring accounts which offered nothing extra in terms of rewards or had just bog standard apps. So two of the biggest banks, HSBC and Barclays didn’t make the cut. Likewise, average accounts from Virgin Money (despite it’s linked 10% regular saver last summer), Bank of Scotland and Co-op didn’t make it either.

I also made the call to ignore packaged accounts which come with added perks but for a fee. Premium current accounts also missed out as they’re limited in who can get them.

So, the final 12 were all accounts which I think do a decent job for your banking – no duds allowed. There was a strict one current account per bank, hence just the standard Monzo rather than the Monzo Perks.

They were randomly allocated into their groups, with a path to the final set out from there. The groups were:

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D
Club Lloyds	Kroo	Halifax Reward	Chase
Nationwide FlexDirect	NatWest Reward	Monzo	First Direct
Santander Edge	Starling	Triodos	Revolut

Group A: Lloyds vs Nationwide vs Santander

Straight off the bat was, in my opinion, a very strong group. All three get you something for nothing.

The Club Lloyds offers cinema tickets or free Disney+ as well as a 6.25% paying monthly saver. Combined they’re worth a combined £230 to £240. The app is decent enough too.

Nationwide’s FlexDirect offers 1% cashback on spending and 5% interest on up to £1,000 for the first year only, though after that there are no account specific perks, but of course customers have received the £100 “Fairer Share” payment each year for the last three years. As a building society, it’s also a strong ethical choice.

The Santander Edge has recently dropped debit card cashback, but you can still get 1% back on bills to offset the fee, and then open up an exclusive 6% Edge Saver, worth £233 a year if you hold the full £4,000.

But the voting wasn’t as close as I expected. While Santander Edge received just 15% of the vote, and Club Lloyds 31%, it was the Nationwide FlexDirect that picked up a huge 54%, and progressed to the semi-final stage.

Group B: Kroo vs NatWest vs Starling

A different group this time as only one account offers a regular reward and high interest on savings. The other two made the list thanks to their apps and general banking experience.

Kroo is the newest bank on the list, and it’s still got some catching up to do, but we like the app.

The NatWest Reward account will only make you up to £36 a year, but I really like the linked 5.5% paying Digital Regular Saver as it’ll keep earning you interest year after year.

Finally, the bank I use, Starling. It’s got one of the best apps out there, and it’s also another decent option if you want to avoid the less ethical banks.

When all the votes were added up, Starling edged through to the semi-finals with 47% of the votes, just a fraction above the 45% Natwest received. Kroo, not unexpectedly, picked up a low 8%.

Group C: Halifax vs Monzo vs Triodos

The Halifax Reward account has been my top reward account for years, offering £5 a month per account. And since you can have three that’s meant the potential to get £180 a year.

Monzo is always a popular account, and I rate the app among the best. Again, this was just about the standard Monzo rather than the other options.

Triodos was an outlier in all the accounts in the group stage as not only do you pay £3 a month, you don’t get any perks in return. But it is head and shoulders above the rest when it comes to ethical banking – hence the monthly fee.

If the vote had taken place just a few weeks earlier, I think Halifax Rewards would have performed much better. But the news in late May that the £5 a month perk is ending in September certainly and deservedly hit it’s polling. It still did well though, picking up 39% of the vote.

Triodos received just 7% of the vote, but that was always going to be the case for a smaller bank.

Which left Monzo to top the group with 55%, and take it’s place in the second semi-final.

Group D: Chase vs First Direct vs Revolut

The last group was all digital, with none of these current accounts offering any branches access.

Chase’s current account has been one of our top picks since it launched, but I wondered if recent cuts to the cashback offering and savings rates would hurt its chances.

First Direct’s 1st account is often picked as one of the best for customer service, and you can also benefit from a 7% linked regular saver, worth £135 a year – plus the rate is fixed.

Then there’s Revolut, which I’ve never been a huge fan of, but the app update last year was pretty impressive.

Well, in the end, Chase stormed to victory with 61% of the vote – the clearest winner of all four groups. First Direct picked up 26% and Revolut last with 14%.

Semi-finals

Semi-final 1: Nationwide vs Starling

The first semi-final was between the Nationwide FlexDirect and Starling. As it happens the FlexDirect was my main account for a number of years until frustrations with the app promoted me to move my everyday banking to Starling a number of years ago.

I really rate Starling, so I was (pleasantly) surprised to see Nationwide blow them out of the water with 69% versus 31% of the vote. So Nationwide was through to the final.

Semi-final 2: Monzo vs Chase

The battle in the second semi-final was of two ‘challenger’ banks. They’re certainly among the most popular when I write or make videos about them, so I expected a tight match.

But Chase romped past Monzo, with 64% of the vote. Monzo received just 36%.

The final

Nationwide FlexDirect vs Chase

Down to the last two current accounts and I think the free cash via rewards, interest or cashback are big factors in what allowed them to oust Starling and Monzo. It seems having a fantastic app isn’t enough to win your hearts. So which one won?

Well, in what first might feel like a shock result, Nationwide’s FlexDirect received a winning 57% of the votes, kicking Chase into the runner up spot.

But is it really a shock? Chase has reduced the perks that made it stand out. Cashback is just on groceries and travel, and only in the UK. Interest rates need to be boosted by short term offers, and can usually be beaten elsewhere. However, the strong app has obviously kept enough customers happy to bring it this far.

Nationwide meanwhile has really upped its game. The building society has given away £150 to customers this year just for being loyal users (as long as conditions were met), while it’s made promises to keep branches open when others are closing at pace. The app has finally caught up a lot (you now rarely need that dreaded card reader), and for those that care, it doesn’t invest your money in unethical practices like new oil pipelines and weapons.

So deserved congratulations to your Current Account World Cup 2025: the Nationwide Flex Direct account.